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Post 10 Nov 2016, 8:05 pm

Say, many of you have been here as long as I have, but don't seem to be playing much Dip. Is it a matter of time? Interest? What would get you back into hobby? Just curious.
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Post 11 Nov 2016, 7:02 am

georgeatkins wrote:Say, many of you have been here as long as I have, but don't seem to be playing much Dip. Is it a matter of time? Interest? What would get you back into hobby? Just curious.

It is a tough one. I started to play more ftf and lost interest in the online game. But since having a kid I have not had time for ftf very much (and the one event I was going to this year was cancelled).

Here, the pool of players is not that great. We lost our main driver of play, the tournament, which was supposed to be annual, but slipped in the third run and the fourth never even started. It seems to be a relatively small number who regularly play and after having been a GM a few times and seen new (and even established players) drift off during a game, not sure I have the patience.
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Post 11 Nov 2016, 10:34 am

I play all the NWO games, that variant is great. I also enjoyed the game of Explore that Tom ran earlier in the year. Standard Dip just doesn't really do it for me these days though.
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Post 11 Nov 2016, 12:07 pm

Sassenach wrote:I play all the NWO games, that variant is great. I also enjoyed the game of Explore that Tom ran earlier in the year. Standard Dip just doesn't really do it for me these days though.


What about another variant, such as 1900? Or College of Cardinals?
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Post 11 Nov 2016, 12:48 pm

I'm willing to give them a try. 1900 is actually a variant that I quite like. The issue for me really is that I don't like to be involved in multiple games at the same time and this year we had the Explore game, which ran into the early weeks of Tom's NWO, and then when that finished we almost immediately started up another NWO. Those games are really time consuming if you want to play them properly and i just can't commit to a side game, it wouldn't be fair on the players in that game.
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Post 11 Nov 2016, 6:16 pm

Sassenach wrote:I'm willing to give them a try. 1900 is actually a variant that I quite like. The issue for me really is that I don't like to be involved in multiple games at the same time and this year we had the Explore game, which ran into the early weeks of Tom's NWO, and then when that finished we almost immediately started up another NWO. Those games are really time consuming if you want to play them properly and i just can't commit to a side game, it wouldn't be fair on the players in that game.


I agree - especially with NWO. However, I hope to run a game of 1900 in January, after all of the holidays are over and done with.
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Post 13 Nov 2016, 11:23 am

I haven't played enough standard games for my taste. I was never into variants, much. I've only ever played a few dozen (maybe not even that many) games of Diplomacy since my first game on Redscape in 1998-99 (the old-old website when the games had numbers not names). I like it though I've never won. It's such a fascinating study of people, no?

But to answer your question, I'd love to see more standard games, here.
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Post 13 Nov 2016, 12:44 pm

George started this topic with the observation that people here are not playing dip and what would it take to get back into the lobby. The standard games I see here seem to lack a certain amount of intensity. I think people like for the score to be kept. A scoring system with a large bonus for solos with a ranking system and then periodic games between the top seven would be interesting. Another issue in a gaming community is when certain players get comfortable with each other and are more likely to ally with each other. We that is an issue I think people would still play. Another problem we always had here is NMRs affecting games and difficulty getting replacement players.

Game results don't really matter, people always agree to boring draws, the ultimate result doesn't really matter so no one really goes for the solo. Not so exciting games dont result in much interest.

Whether such a scoring system has a chance of reviving interest here I don't know, but it is certainly hard to rouse much interest for a standard diplomacy game here right now.
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Post 13 Nov 2016, 6:09 pm

freeman3 wrote:The standard games I see here seem to lack a certain amount of intensity.


I was just the GM in Battle of Verdux that finished up in Sept, but I saw enough to say that the players were intense! The outside couldn't see what was going on, because the players didn't post in the forum, but the name calling!! The bad feelings!! The rage, the taunting!! And I was just the GM. You could say a lot about that game, but lacking in intensity was not one of them!
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Post 13 Nov 2016, 9:33 pm

geojanes wrote:
freeman3 wrote:The standard games I see here seem to lack a certain amount of intensity.


I was just the GM in Battle of Verdux that finished up in Sept, but I saw enough to say that the players were intense! The outside couldn't see what was going on, because the players didn't post in the forum, but the name calling!! The bad feelings!! The rage, the taunting!! And I was just the GM. You could say a lot about that game, but lacking in intensity was not one of them!


But Freeman does bring up some good points. NWO does seem to be a popular bloodbath, mostly because of the nukes, I think. It is like a tournament in one game. Having a ranking/scoring system was another of Freeman's observations. Several other sites do maintain player ratings based on accumulated points, such as WebDip, VDip, and DiplomacyCorp. All of these provide automated score-keeping. That seems to best way to go, regardless of what system we would adopt.

The main setback is not the methodology, but the implementation. 1)can it be implemented in Redscape's programming environment (phpBB)? 2)who can do the programming, or can such a module be obtained through some kind of public domain resource?

My programming is limited to database/VBA and a little SQL. I've never tackled PhP, but perhaps somebody on this site has some experience and is willing to put in some time to help out. But I think we've been down this road before, haven't we?
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Post 13 Nov 2016, 9:46 pm

Well, when that kind of group gets together egos are on the line. I did enjoy reading Randy's EOG. Germany's EOG was interesting as well. I wish more people would write EOGs that discuss their game strategies--they are usually fascinating.

Yeah, not sure how to actually build a rating system. We actually did not talk about a traditional rating system before because it was felt that we did not want such a system but some kind of rating for completing games, reliability (no NMRs, abandonments, etc). But it's probably futile, anyway. Not to be pessimistic, mind you...
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Post 14 Nov 2016, 9:05 am

Best will in the world, if people want to play standard Dip there are other sites they can go to with thriving communities for that.This place would be better to focus on the more unusual variants. Both NWO and Explore are really good games in their own right. They're only vaguely related to actual Dip, but they're a unique experience that can't be found elsewhere and people love them. The problem is that they require a huge time commitment from the GM to run them, so we're only ever going to get a handful of games a year.
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Post 14 Nov 2016, 12:53 pm

Any kind of ranking system would have to managed manually. If someone wishes to take on such a project, just get Brad Bauska's blessing. I'd do it but I've got my hands full with the racing games.

Starting from scratch is probably best. Yeah, we have about 3 years of games in the archives but anything beyond that is lost (although Christine Stoy may still have records).

Ranks
I suppose you could also demote everyone back to Adjutant if those ranks are to be part of a new system. Nobody has advanced rank since Chad left so we're all stuck in place, anyway. Nor do they have much meaning anymore - some higher ranked players never got their old ranks back when the site underwent it's hideous steampunk renewal.

We could entirely scrap the ranks or create new one (yes, we can do at least that) but I know some are endeared to them. Nor would I get rid of the racing titles (a separate track).

phpbb
If you know of someone willing to code for us, there is certainly more to do aesthetically. It's an extremely low paying job, though :wink: .

Funds
Speaking of money, please don't forget to donate via Paypal (redscapefund@gmail.com). Brad & Cody need some cash flow to keep the lights on. I doubt their candy machine puts quite enough into the kitty.
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Post 14 Nov 2016, 1:06 pm

SLOTerp wrote:Speaking of money, please don't forget to donate via Paypal (redscapefund@gmail.com). Brad & Cody need some cash flow to keep the lights on. I doubt their candy machine puts quite enough into the kitty.

And that just reminded me to kick over the $25 for the recently ended 2016 RBL season. Done!
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Post 15 Nov 2016, 12:57 pm

I moved this thread to it's appropriate place but did leave a ghost in the politics forum for those looking.

As I think about any kind of revival for Redscape Diplomacy, I can only see one way forward: An annual tournament.

That would take an organizer with time, dedication, and contacts. They would need to aggressively recruit in all the known online Dip sites to get, I would argue, at least 8 to 10 boards. Yeah, that pretty much describes Randy but I'm fairly certain that ship has sailed. Who else is out there to take on such an endeavor?

Then you'd still need all the volunteer GM's. That sounds actually more doable then finding the organizer.

I could be wrong but I just don't see a way forward by hosting one or two NWO games a year along with a smattering of others.

You could always hop into a race car!